You will need
the following viewers
to view many of the
files on this site.

Click here to
download
Adobe Acrobat Reader

Click here to
download
Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer

University church of Christ

Assembly Times

 Sunday

   Bible Classes (9:30)

   AM Worship (10:20)

   PM Worship (6:00 pm)

 Wednesday

   Bible Classes
(7:00 PM)

Location

449 North Gay Street

Auburn, AL 36830
Click Here for Specific Directions

The Pain of Denial and the Joy of Forgiveness

by Jim Deason

I have been there and you have, too. Better judgment would have said that you needed to be somewhere else but better judgment doesn't always prevail. So, you were where you didn't need to be. You put yourself in a position to fail and, sure enough, you did. You said the wrong thing and the consequences were immediate and severe. Sound familiar?

"I can relate with Peter." You've heard it many times and perhaps you have said it. Perhaps you feel as if the two of you are distant cousins. The truth is, there is a little of Peter in a lot of us.

He was impetuous. Occasionally, he seemed to act without thinking. When Jesus finished feeding the five thousand, He sent the crowds away and the disciples out onto the Sea of Galilee.

After spending the night in prayer, He found the Twelve on the storm-tossed sea and came to them, walking on the water. When they saw Him, they were afraid. Yet Peter asked, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water?" (Matt. 14:28). Why would a man want to walk on water? What was he thinking? Further, this wasn't the only occasion he acted rashly. What about the time he rebuked the Lord (Matt. 16:21-23); or cut off the ear of Malchus (John 18:7-11), or outran John to the tomb (John 20:1-8)?

Some people feel compelled to always be in the middle of things. They are the first to act and the first to speak. Why? I don't know. Some folks are just made that way and that is not a bad thing. You need people like Peter to motivate others to action. Sometimes, however, impetuousness can get you into trouble.

He was overconfident. "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away" (Matt. 26:33). In his commentary on Matthew, John MacArthur said,

Peter considered himself incapable of disloyalty. He could imagine nothing that would cause him to waver, and not even the Lord's explicit prediction could convince him otherwise. He was certain he had come to the place of spiritual maturity, with his priorities straight, his convictions steadfast, and his faithfulness invulnerable. It was therefore inconceivable to him that he could be capable of defecting from the Lord (p. 212).

Peter would have done well to consider the words of his fellow apostle, "... let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall" (1 Cor. 10:12).

Impetuous. In the wrong place. Believing himself to be spiritually stronger than he really was. This was and is a prescription for disaster.

Rather than hear it from secondhand sources, Peter wanted to see the outcome of Jesus' trial for himself. Although Jesus told him that the elders, chief priests, and scribes would have Him killed (Matt. 16:21), Peter refused to believe it. And although He was afraid, his fear couldn't keep from following the anger-crazed mob into lair of the lion. Perhaps he thought he could remain inconspicuous. He was wrong.

Peter felt the sting of the taunts. First, from a servant-girl--"You too were with Jesus the Galilean" (Matt. 26:69). Did Peter think that saying "Yes" would place him beside Jesus? Then the taunt came a second time and then a third. "The way you talk gives you away" (Matt. 26:73). He was convicted as guilty and that without a trial. Peter thought his only way out was to deny the Lord and he did. Not once, but three times!

Nothing was wrong with Peter's memory. "Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, 'Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times,' and he went out and wept bitterly" (Matt. 26:75). He remembered the Lord's prediction. He remembered his boastful response. He remembered other times he had failed the Lord, too. His pain was real and the hurt was deep. He cried.

The denied Savior was crucified and placed in the tomb of Joseph. Mark tells us that on the first day of the week when the women came to anoint the body of Jesus, they found the tomb empty, and a divine spokesman saying, "He has risen; He is not here" and instructions to "go, tell His disciples and Peter" (Mark 16:6-7). Though in an unexpected moment of weakness Peter had denied Him, Jesus still had a work He wanted His apostle to do (read the book of Acts).

Perhaps you can associate with Peter. A little impetuous? Often. Overconfident? Almost always. Taunted? Sometimes. Denied Him? Please forgive! Forgiven? Thankful beyond words.

Peter, with God's help, picked himself up from the ash heap of denial and was determined to serve the Savior with all of his heart and with the rest of his life. He learned that failures don't have to be fatal. Have you learned the same?

 

 Other Articles
Where Are You Going?
Effects of no Church Discipline
Hope is to be Found in Christ
 

 

Should the Lord's Supper be taken like a meal? May women speak during the Lord's Supper as they would at a common meal at a table?
Click Here to Read and Hear More About this Question

 

 Would you like others to read this article?

                    Please share!